Morris Markin (Russian: Морис Маркин) (July 15, 1893 – July 8, 1970) was a Russian-born American businessman who founded the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company (which would later become the Checker Motors Corporation).

Aug 6, 1998 · In 1977, seven years after the death of Morris Markin, retired GM President Ed Cole bought into Checker with the intent of re-energizing the company and developing a new, more modern Checker. Cole's plan was to purchase partially completed Volkswagens from VW's new factory in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.

Jun 10, 2020 · Among the thousands of immigrants arriving in America in 1913 was a 19-year-old Russian named Morris Markin. According to family legend, Markin had but $2 in his pocket, which was not enough for the $25 minimum cash assets required to enter the country, so a sympathetic janitor lent him the difference.

Checker Motors Corporation was a vehicle manufacturer, and later an automotive subcontractor, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The company was established by Morris Markin in 1922, created by a merger of the firms Commonwealth Motors and Markin Automobile Body, and was initially named the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company.

Jun 16, 2023 · Unable to speak English when he arrived in the U.S., 19-year-old Markin worked as an errand boy and also used his experience as a laborer in a Russian clothing factory to become a tailor’s apprentice. When his boss died suddenly, Markin purchased the shop on credit from the man’s widow.

Jul 9, 1970 · KALAMAZOO, Mich., July —Morris Markin, founder and Corporation of the Checker Motors Corporation died yesterday at Bronson Hospital after having suffered a heart attack. He was 77 years old.

Feb 20, 2024 · Who Was Morris Markin? Morris Markin, the founder of Checker Taxi Cabs, had humble beginnings. At twelve years old, in the early 1900’s, Morris Markin had started working in the largest commission supplier in Smolesk, Russia.

Jan 15, 2016 · Morris Markin was a Russian-Jewish tailor who emigrated to the United States in 1913 when he was in his late teens. He settled in Chicago, found work in the city’s garment district, and within a couple of years had his own business making ready-to-wear suits.

In 1928 through a series of shrewd stock manipulations, Morris Markin, founder of Checker, was removed from the position of president and a syndicate of auto executives and major stockholders assumed control.

On June 18,1923, an American legend was born when the first Checker Taxi Cab hit the street in Chicago, the product of a Russian American Morris Markin.